


take my pain (turn it into gold)

by blackkat



Series: Tumblr Drabbles [79]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Friendship, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Humor, Light Angst, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 05:45:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14158074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: Neji is nineteen. He’s Hokage. The House system has officially been demolished, and the key to his seal, to every Caged Bird Seal, is sitting on the desk in front of him.It feels like freedom, and maybe a little like terror.





	take my pain (turn it into gold)

Neji's hands are still shaking.

He stares at the doors, even though they’ve been closed for several minutes already, even though he wouldn’t be able to pick out a trace of his uncle’s presence with the Byakugan activated, let alone with his regular eyes. Sits behind the desk, and breathes, and tries not to let the trembles become obvious.

“Big step forward,” a quiet voice says at his shoulder, and the words might be light but the meaning behind them is anything but.

Neji closes his eyes, breathing in through his nose. “He didn’t fight it,” he says, and the realization is a little like numbness.

Kiba scoffs, settling against the edge of the desk with his arms folded over his chest. “Of course he didn’t,” he says. “You're the Hokage.”

Lightning down his spine, hearing that. Still a shock, even a month after his appointment, and every morning he wakes up expecting it to be some kind of fever-dream. He shoves his hair back from his face, forcing himself not to ask Kiba to pinch him, and belatedly realizes that Kiba is, in fact, standing in the office— _his_ office. Jerking his head up, he looks the other man over, checking for any obvious wounds. There are a few, hastily bandaged, and a spreading bruise across Kiba's cheekbone that makes Neji frown.

“You were in a fight,” he says, almost snaps, and it comes out as more of an accusation than a realization.

Kiba just shrugs, because of course he does. “Oto’s been doubling up on the border guards. There are samurai mixed in too, now. I guess they managed to convince Rice Paddy Country’s daimyo that they’re a serious ninja village now.”

“You mean _Naruto_ managed it,” Neji says, more than a little sourly, and it sits uneasily in his stomach, the thought of Konoha’s most startling missing-nin. “Sasuke has never convinced anyone of anything without a sword involved.”

“I don’t know,” Kiba tells him dryly. “I was always pretty convinced he was an asshole, well before he ever got his hands on a sword. The squad’s fine, though. No serious wounds that Ino couldn’t treat on the move.”

If there had been casualties, Kiba wouldn’t have smiled at him when he got here, Neji thinks. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to let him know that everything ended all right. He’s not going to _say_ that, though; he’s got a reputation to maintain.

“Any sign of them?” he asks, and Kiba knows immediately who he means.

“No,” he says, and this is a little gruff, almost angry. “Apparently now that they’ve driven Orochimaru out they're sticking close to the village. Jiraiya split off to keep looking for the Snake, but the trail’s pretty cold. Akamaru and I couldn’t pick anything up, so it’s spy stuff now, not tracker stuff.”

“Stuff,” Neji repeats dryly, and snorts when Kiba makes a face at him. “Thank you. I didn’t dissolve the Inuzuka while you were gone, so you should still have a clan to go back to.”

“Just the Hyuuga House system.” Kiba tips his head, and Neji will never tell him that between the messy hair and the bright eyes, it makes him look like a curious puppy. “Your dad would be proud.”

Neji swallows, breath knotted in his throat. Tries to look at Kiba but can't, and turns away to look out the window instead, hands curled into fists in his lap.

“When Hiashi told me what happened to him,” he says quietly, “I decided that I never wanted that fate. I didn’t want to die so that the Main House could live. Hinata and Hanabi are my cousins, but—”

“No one’s got the right to ask anyone else to die for them,” Kiba scoffs, and it’s blunt and brash and almost antagonistic, but hearing it eases the fist around Neji's heart just a little.

 _I didn’t want that to be my best option,_ Neji doesn’t say, because he’s already said it so many times. Kiba _knows_ his feelings on the matter, at this point. _I didn’t want to be faced with the choice of dying for someone who doesn’t care enough to stop the system._

And…Hinata is too timid to try. Hanabi is too green, not officially Clan Head yet. Neji had thought Naruto would, right up until Naruto chased a fleeing Sasuke and then just…never came back.

Taken to Oto along with Sasuke, Kakashi had said, old and tired and worn, and Neji had heard the news and…realized. Thought, like a revelation, **_I'm_ **_going to have to change things, aren’t I._

So he did. Chuunin, and then jounin, and then Tsunade's student, bringing pride to the Hyuuga while all the while planning this very day a thousand times over.

He’s nineteen. He’s Hokage. The House system has officially been demolished, and the key to his seal, to every Caged Bird Seal, is sitting on the desk in front of him.

It feels like freedom, and maybe a little like terror.

“Hey,” Kiba says, not quite gentle, but warm. Neji glances up at him, at the ANBU armor, the tattoo on his bicep and the scar on his throat. From Sasuke, he knows, and Naruto stopped Sasuke, but—not quite soon enough.

Kiba's done his own growing, these past few years.

Raising a brow, Neji leans back in his chair. “Hey,” he repeats, makes it skeptical even when all he wants to do is smile. “Is that how you talk to your Hokage, ANBU Captain?”

Kiba grins, all white, sharp teeth, and in a smooth, carelessly graceful motion he drops right to his knees. Neji's breath catches, and Kiba laughs, leaning forward to rest his cheek on Neji's thigh.

“Sorry, sir,” he says, and it’s cheeky but Neji can't bring himself to even _start_ to care. “Lord Hokage, is something bothering you?”

“Yes,” Neji gets out, takes a breath, evens out his voice. “It’s about a hundred and sixty-nine centimeters, and it smells like dog.”

Kiba laughs, bright and startled, and Neji slides his fingers into wild brown hair, strokes through it. Looks at the seals Hiashi gave him again, because he can't help it, and—

“I did it,” he says, still not quite able to believe it. “It’s—finished. There's no more Branch House.”

Kiba leans into him, warm and steady and solid. “Good,” he says fiercely, and Neji can't do anything but lean down and kiss him, wild with something like victory, or maybe pure nerves.

He thinks of his father, of the weight of the hat that’s sitting on his desk. Of the relief in Hiashi’s eyes as he passed the keys over, and the smile on Tsunade's face, small and a little sad, when she appointed him.

“Good,” he whispers back, and means it with all of his heart.


End file.
